This was published 3 years ago
Travel photographers Emilie Ristevski and Jason Charles Hill: Globetrotting Aussie photographers focus on home
By Nell O'Grady
Travel photographers Emilie Ristevski and Jason Charles Hill are no strangers to the unexpected. Their professional and personal partnership has taken them from the icy glaciers of Greenland, to the rarity of a flooded Namibian valley and this year, to their home in Queensland where they find themselves eyeballing the sea turtles and reef sharks of the Great Barrier and Mackay reef one day, and standing at the foot of Lamington National Park's seven thousand year old Antarctic trees the next.
Even so, COVID-19 certainly took them by surprise. When travel is your life's work, a global virus changes the way you view the world, both through the lens and away from it.
Jason and Emilie started 2020 in their averagely extraordinary way. They were hosting a photography workshop in the snowy peaks of Iceland, COVID-19 was then to them a quiet hum, buried far away beneath layers of snow. They flew home just before quarantine restrictions were put in place, unaware that this year would halt a frantic seven year global journey that had seen the pair photograph some of the most remote and breathtaking places in the world.
Credit: Iceland Jason Charles Hill/@jasoncharleshill
"The world just flipped," Emilie said. "It felt very instant, from having so many travel plans lined up to getting home and realising how real this was."
Had all gone as planned, Emilie and Jason would be in Antarctica now. Instead, they're in their hometown of Brisbane, capturing the places and animals that started their photography journeys. They had also planned to travel through the Caucasus mountain range last year, through Turkey and Georgia all the way up through to Azerbaijan. Trips to Tanzania and New Zealand were also on their list.
"We had some really off the beaten track destinations that we had planned and we were really excited about. It felt a bit like all of a sudden everything just got cancelled," said Jason.
Their schedules have always been packed. Two weeks of international travel is indented with a week long rest in Queensland. They come home, unpack, do the washing and head back to the airport where they're on a long flight to the next international location. It was starting to become, in their eyes, "a bit of a monotonous routine."
Before the pandemic hit, Emilie and Jason had some extraordinary experiences. They helicoptered to a remote village of Greenland in winter where temperatures averaged -40C. The community they visited had received only nine visitors that year. "You arrive at a town like that and everyone immediately sees you and word gets around that some random western people have turned up. Suddenly everyone knows your name," said Jason.
They also saw a once in-a-decade rainfall in a Namibian Valley that brought thousands of oryx (antelopes) to the area. "Even the local guides were telling us that they'd never seen anything like it before," said Emilie.
Credit: @helloemilie / Emilie Ristevski
Yet for two people so passionate about moving, be it slightly to the left for a better camera angle or thousands of kilometres away to the desolate sand dunes of Abu Dhabi, the pandemic was a bit of a "roadblock" that, all things considered, "gave them a much needed break."
"It was about time we actually slowed down," said Emilie. "I'd been saying it for a long time. It got to the point where it was all starting to become a blur and we were almost on the edge of burn out. You're so far into it that you don't even realise."
Even so, they'll still be up at dawn to shoot a sunrise somewhere like the Scenic Rim, an hour from Brisbane with ancient rainforests of bloodwood trees and red iron gums and waterfalls that teeter into intimate fresh water pools.
"We've realised that we stopped shooting locally because we lost that drive. Usually, when we come home we just try and rest and relax and catch up on a TV show or something in between big trips. Now we're going out three times a week trying to capture new content."
Though their daily life has been completely transformed, Emilie and Jason are focussing on the positives. "We're so grateful to be able to continue our passion for photography and continue to explore our own backyard," said Jason. "We're blessed with the amount of beautiful locations we can shoot locally."
This year they've ticked off more Australian travel locations than most would in a decade.
A couple of weeks ago they were in North Queensland visiting the Daintree and Cape Tribulation, often described as the place "where the rainforest meets the reef." They travelled to the McKay Reef by boat, where they swam with turtles and sharks.
"This was not your run of the mill snorkelling experience outside of Cairns. It felt very wild," said Jason.
Jarramali Rock Art Tours brought more highlights, including beautiful countryside accessible only by rough four-wheel-drive tracks. The trail leads to 10,000 year old Indigenous rock art amidst a vast and rugged landscape.
Credit: @jasoncharleshill/ Jason Charles Hill
Though they are enjoying their prolonged time in Australia, such drastic change has put many things into perspective for these two nomads. "I think, before COVID-19, travel was so accessible and everyone was travelling so often, almost mindlessly," said Emilie. "We were seeing so much of our beautiful planet and I did a couple of trips that made me reassess everything.
"For me, moving into the future I really want to focus on meaningful slow travel where I can experience destinations and be in the moment when I'm there," said Emilie.
It's no surprise that the pair have seen both ends of the climate change spectrum, from the burning bush of Australia, to the receding glaciers of Greenland. "It's basically ground zero for climate change. Seeing the fastest melting ice cap on the planet, when you're there, it slaps you in the face," said Jason. "When you're in Australia it isn't as obvious all the time."
"The important thing is that people in Australia are aware that climate change is affecting Australia directly, it might not be obvious all year round but it's happening, it's happening in the air and it's under the sea and amongst the bushland."
COVID-19 has also had an impact on their photographic process. The pair have always tried to follow the weather and the light. "We're usually pretty short on time and a lot of the places we've never been before, so it's hard to know how we're going to shoot. Now we have that flexibility with COVID, we can look at weather maps daily to see when is an ideal time to take photographs."
The pair's styles have always been very different. "I've always loved the little details, looking closely at patterns and textures and Jason is very much about the wide and big landscape," said Emilie. "When we first met, we'd be in the same location shooting and we'd pick up totally different things."
Credit: @helloemilie / Emilie Ristevski
"We're not a traditional travel couple where it's all about us," said Jason. "It's more about the place. Our clients realise that they're getting two types of photographers which benefits them in the end anyway."
Though travel restrictions are still in place, Emilie and Jason are holding out hope for a return to international travel. "We have a few trips planned across Australia, but all International travel has been put on the backburner for now," said Jason.
"There's never been a better time to start ticking off those local places that we haven't had a chance to explore yet," they said.
Emilie and Jason are biding their time while making the most of every second.
TIPS ON TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
ENJOY AND PRACTICE
"Get out there and explore your local area and take as many photographs as you can. That's where we started. Emilie started in her backyard and I started hiking around in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Take lots of photos, review those photos and get better."
GET INSPIRED
"There's so much out there on Instagram and so many people to get inspired from. People can fall into the trap of just copying people but the main thing is taking inspiration from people and then creating something of your own."
TELL A UNIQUE STORY
Credit: @helloemilie / Emilie Ristevski
"Remember to tell your story. Everyone has the ability to see the world and everything in it in such a unique way. There's only one of you. It's about focussing on the story and why you want to capture something."
"Anyone can go and take the same photo as anyone else but it's just putting a unique spin on it. Whether it's a different lens or unique lighting conditions. Or just some things can be as simple as changing your point of view with the camera."
TOP FIVE AUSTRALIAN DESTINATIONS
Credit: @helloemilie / Emilie Ristevski
Australia is full of diversity, from the desert outback to the untouched beaches and tropical rainforests, the snowy mountain ranges and all the wide open spaces in-between. There is an endless list of destinations they've formed a special connection with in Australia, but here are Emilie and Jason's favourite five.
SOUTH WEST TASMANIA
This wilderness is like no other – raw and immensely remote, it's a true wilderness experience, far detached from civilisation. We are drawn to the feelings found in the nature, exploring the hidden trails, wild rivers, majestic mountain ranges and lush green forests.
LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK, QLD
A special rainforest close to home, every time we explore here it feels like we have transported to another time. The mystical trees found here are remnants of the ancient Gondwanan forests that once covered the Australian continent – a glimpse into how our natural world once existed.
JARRAMALI, QLD
Surrounded by over 60,000 years of Indigenous culture, this landscape holds some of the most important and oldest Indigenous rock art anywhere. A hidden gem in Queensland, we loved discovering the stories from our earth's oldest living culture.
KAKADU, NT
Sunsets in Kakadu are a unique experience in themselves, as the sun goes down the entire escarpment begins to glow deep burnt oranges and reds, slowly disappearing into dusk. Must do – the Nitmiluk Gorge sunset cruise, the best way to see this landscape come alive.
THE KIMBERLEY, WA
Drawn to beautiful colours hidden throughout Australia's north-west. From the stunning dreamy coastlines to the rust-red cliff-sides and desert plains, there is something so enchanting about this landscape that has left us intrigued to learn more.
WORLD TOP FIVE
Emilie and Jason's travels have led them to all corners of the planet, from remote villages in South America to the wild landscapes of Iceland, Namibia and everywhere in-between. Here are five favourites.
UUMMANNAQ, GREENLAND
Credit: Jason Charles Hill
A frozen yet surreal world surrounded by glacial fiords and temperatures so cold that the entire ocean freezes solid. This arctic landscape shifts your perspective and allows you to realise how tiny we all really are on this magnificent planet.
EL CHALTEN, PATAGONIA
Jagged glaciers, snow-topped peaks and turquoise lakes – El Chalten is a small mountain village in South America. This uniquely wild landscape is full of dramatic towering granite peaks and deep valleys.
FIORDLAND, NEW ZEALAND
A land full of endless mountains, the South Island of New Zealand is a place our mind always wanders back to. The glacier-carved valleys of Fiordland were once flooded by the sea but are now home to an abundance of new life.
SOSSUSVLEI, NAMIBIA
The vast landscapes of Namibia hold a close place in our hearts. The rust-red dunes, bleached white river beds and deep blue skies of Namibia symbolise more than the country's dry and uninhabited expanse; there is a fragility to these ancient landscapes.
THE EMPTY QUARTER, UAE
Here is a seemingly endless desert landscape, a place which transforms and glows with the ever-changing light. Sweeping sand dunes fill the view in every direction and remind us of how even in the harshest of landscapes, life can be found.Credit: @helloemilie / Emilie Ristevski
You can buy copies of Emilie's new book, Forever Wandering, here.
See also: 49 countries in six years: Aussie photographer reveals most beautiful places on Earth
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